关键词: 自主水下航行器, 编队控制, 指定时间控制, 双环控制, 扩张状态观测器

Abstract: The cooperative operation of multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) demonstrates broad application prospects in underwater combat scenarios. To address the underactuated multi-AUV three-dimensional formation control problem with model uncertainties and unknown environmental disturbances, a dual-loop prescribed-time formation control method is proposed. A mathematical model of AUV motion is established, and an underactuated coordinate transformation is introduced to solve the underactuation problem of AUV. To mitigate the adverse effects of model uncertainty and unknown environmental disturbances on the system, a fixed-time extended state observer is designed to estimate and compensate for these disturbances. In order to achieve prescribed-time convergence in multi-AUV formation, a dual-loop prescribed-time controller is designed, consisting of an outer-loop control law and an inner-loop control law. The outer-loop control law adjusts the desired velocity of the AUV to achieve the formation objective, while the inner-loop control law is responsible for tracking the desired velocity. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that the proposed method ensures system convergence within a prescribed time. Simulation results show that, compared to finite-time and fixed-time control methods, the proposed method achieves prescribed-time convergence and further enhances the system’s convergence speed, providing a new approach for multi-AUV formation control in tasks with high coordination requirements.

Key words: autonomous underwater vehicle, formation control, prescribed-time control, dual-loop control, extended state observer